A goalie? A top defenceman? A winger? A centre?
Two credible NHL insiders, former GMs Brian Lawton and Craig MacTavish, agree that the one area where the Oilers most have to pick up their play is on defence. Both recommend acquiring a top d-man on or before the March 7 trade deadline.
Lawton told Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now that his top priority would be one more defenceman. “I still think the Oilers are light on D.”
He’s yet to see enough of newcomer John Klingberg on the Oilers defence to be confident Klingberg can get the job done. Lawton likes what he’s seen of Klingberg, but he’s not certain the Oilers will get enough looks at the Swedish d-man, who had been out after double hip surgery for more than a year.
“I think getting Klingberg really helps. But I still would be looking for one more guy that I would feel 100% comfortable and that could be in that Top Four, even if he’s the number four. And Klingberg may fill that. Either way, I think it’s a winner for the Oilers. They’re just not getting a chance to get a lot of looks.”
And MacTavish told Stauffer the top need is a cycle-buster on defence.
Said MacT: “Size matters in the playoffs when you get down to the conference finals and the finals. It just does. Size is integral to success. And as much as I love what Edmonton and (Troy) Stetcher have done – they’ve played incredibly well. I mean, I’m just shocked at how good these guys have been all year – but at the end of the day, they’re going to be facing bigger, stronger forwards … and it’s hard to overcome that.”
MacT wondered if Klingberg is the answer. “I don’t know whether his skill set is a real complete fit for what our needs are. I mean, he was a low-cost acquisition for the organization. So why not try it? But is he going to be able to play that mistake-free game? And when you’re playing the best teams in the game, that’s the question that needs to be answered.”
Former NHL winger Rob Brown disagreed, saying a top scoring winger was the biggest need.
“The reason that they go so often to Conor and Leon is they’re not getting the production out of Leon’s line. Which is funny, because Leon is second in the league in scoring, and his two wingers that he’s had the most, one has six goals, one has seven goals, and I think combined, they have one goal in their last 28 games, so not good enough.”
My take
- It’s too early to know with certainty what Edmonton’s biggest need will be. You can make a reasonable argument that Edmonton’s biggest need is a goalie, a d-man or a forward. There’s no clear answer. But there’s still three weeks of games after the Four Nations tournaments for Edmonton to make its final decision. At the same time, much will depend on which players are available. What does the market offer at a reasonable price? A goalie? A forward? A d-man?
- I put a lot of weight in the opinion of Lawton and MacTavish, two sharp hockey men. I’m liking what I see out of Klingberg in terms of his mobility and passing. He’s had chaos in his game on defence, but I see his reads improving.
- Edmonton has some big cycle busters in Darnell Nurse and Mattias Ekholm. If those two are playing well in the playoffs in the Top Four that will go a long way in shutting down o-zone time of opposing teams. On the third-pairing, Brett Kulak and Ty Emberson have formed a solid partnership, with Emberson’s two-way game picking up considerably as the season goes along.
- Florida won the Cup with some big d-men in Aaron Ekblad, Niko Mikkola, and Dmitry Kulikov, but they also had three more regular sized d-men in Brandon Montour, Gustav Forsling and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Nurse and Ekholm are big bodies, while Bouchard is a big and lanky player. Not one of Kulak, Emberson and Klingberg are small, but are average-sized NHL d-men. That said, if the Oilers can add a big, rugged cycle-busting depth d-man like Radko Gudas, I’d love to see that.
- Rob Brown is also a sharp observer of the game, and he favours a forward. But that extra Top 6 forward could well be Evander Kane.
- I’d prefer the Oilers pick up a big, rugged and effective checking centre as a top priority. Either that, or another goalie, if a good one is available. But, again, there’s plenty more time until the trade deadline, seven more games in total. And after four or five more games, we’ll have that much better idea if Klingberg can get the job done.
At the Cult of Hockey
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